Reflection - Just Words

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071416.cfm

Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
Matthew 11:28-30

The brief passage from the Gospel of Matthew that was read his morning  has crossed my path innumerable times during my life. Through readings - homilies - references - discussion topics - etc., anybody and everybody had thoughts to offer about these words of Jesus.  Upon seeing that it was the text given for the day my first reaction was "This is really a well-worn topic. What can I say that is not just a repetition of over used cliches." That thought is a common conundrum for every person who assumes the task of writing on an assigned piece of material according to a strict schedule. It follows the pattern of the opening scene in each episode of the old TV series Mission Impossible. "Good morning Mr Hall. Your mission, should you choose to accept it . . . " is to write a reflection on these specific Scripture texts. 

In ordinary circumstances the writer's mission is simply a matter of being creative and having a decent command of the English language. Different writers have different methods for beginning. Mine is to read the text and ask a personally generated series of questions intended to stimulate and expose mental relationships and connections not readily evident. 

•      "What unique word or phrase or thought has the author chosen?"
  
•      "How has the author given his subject matter life?"
  
•      "What might the author have been feeling?" 
  

One of these, or other similar questions, will usually evoke mental cross-fires that can provide a core around which I'm able to construct something that is, hopefully, interesting or insightful -- maybe even both. Whether preparing to write about a passage from Scripture or about a selection from any other text, I might well employ the same devices for generating ideas. But the words of the Bible are decidedly different from all others. In fact, simply reading a text is insufficient for receiving more than a superficial version of the message that God would convey. 

Back in 1997 Carl Sagan's novel, Contact, was made into a movie. The story tells of a patient and dedicated attempt to intercept radio signals sent by intelligent beings from other planets. Suddenly, one night, an orderly series of radio signals is received and is quickly understood to be a repeating sequence of prime numbers. There is no way such a signal could be randomly generated, not even with a million monkeys at a million calculators. Such a broadcast must come from an intelligent source. From there the onion gradually blossoms. Within the signal is a video from the first broadcast on earth of a television signal of any notable power. Next 60,000 pages of indecipherable data are also discovered to be hidden within the same signal. And finally, a level of even deeper understanding comes when it is discovered that, in order to be intelligible, the data pages must be viewed as three dimensional instead of in the two dimensional way we expect to receive written material. I have found this series of events from sci-fi fantasy symbolic of the true, in depth content of the Scriptures. The surface message, that which we read on the pages of our Bibles, is only fraction of the whole that God would convey. 

While spending time and energy is a necessary pre-requisite for scraping off even the first outer layer of the 'onion' which is God's word, human effort alone is inadequate to reveal all that God intends. Not surprisingly, His word has greater depth than what my mind can discover.

Reading a Scriptural text, multiple readings of a Scriptural text, and even studious readings of a Scriptural text are insufficient for receiving the fullness of God's message. Why? Because this is no ordinary text. It's not on the same plain as Plato's Republic, or Dante's Inferno, or Shakespeare's Hamlet or Descartes' Discourse on the Method. It's history . . . And yet, it's not. It's philosophy . . . And yet, it's not. It's poetry . . . And yet, it's not. It's all of these and none of these. Why? Because, unlike all other writings, Scripture is the Word of God. 

When I want to understand what Plato or Dante or any other writer has to say I have lots of options. I can read the original text. I can even read it in the original language if I so choose. I can read and listen to explanations by academicians who have devoted considerable time to the study of these author's works. I can examine the critiques of those with different views or different interpretations. And, I can do the same with Holy Scripture. But, with the Scriptures, I can do something impossible with any other written material from the past: I can speak with the author. . . . and the author will speak to me.

If I read the Bible as I would any other book I may find it interesting or not, primitive or not, obscure or not, and the list goes on. If I read the Bible knowing that it is the Word of God himself then I know it's depth is beyond my human intellect alone no matter how smart I am. When writing to Timothy, Paul tells him that  "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2Timothy 3:16) Paul first states that the creation of the text was through the power of God. Further, he implies that it is as timeless as God himself, that the power and Spirit of God resides in the Holy Word, and that, consequently, any given passage contains far more than is readily evident. I need the Spirit of Christ to teach me. This is why Jesus told his apostles "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." (John 16:13)

So, in the end, I go back to the text. I take this well-worn text. "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." I pray: "Tell me, Lord Jesus, the message you would have me receive from these words you have spoken and which are written here before me." And I try to listen with an open mind and an open heart. 

IS 26:7-9, 12, 16-19

The way of the just is smooth;
the path of the just you make level.

MT 11:28-30

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and yo u will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”